The Internet and its World Wide Web ("WWW") system have become an important means of providing access for many users to vast amounts of information stored on the servers which make up the Internet. To date, the majority of users are people with technical or professional backgrounds who use expensive personal computers or work stations to access the Internet and the World Wide Web. In order to increase usage and acceptance of the Internet and the World Wide Web by the public, it is necessary to provide systems which are less expensive and easier to use than computers.
To some extent the difficulty issue has been addressed by the emergence of numerous on-line services such as Prodigy, Compuserve and America Online. These services include an Internet interface for their users. These interfaces provide a relatively user-friendly connection to the Internet and provide new users a chance to experience the Internet. However, as an Internet connection, the cost of this approach is expensive due to the relatively high connect charges associated with these on-line services. Numerous other services allow more direct connection to the Internet at a much more reasonable cost, but typically require the user to use more difficult and complicated interface and browser programs and also require the user to have a greater understanding of the Internet. Additionally, all of the above mentioned interfaces require a personal computer system, which can be expensive and difficult to use.
At the present time, there is no direct link between television broadcasting and the Internet. With increasing frequency, a television program or television commercial may refer textually to a Universal Resource Locator ("URL") Internet address, such as a World Wide Web site address, relating to the program, content of the program or commercial. The viewer must either memorize or write down the URL and use a computer at some later time to access the referenced Internet site.
Thus, there is a need for a television and Internet server system which allows for easier and more economical access to the Internet and which allows users to automatically access Internet sites pertaining to or relating to television programming and commercials.